Have you ever read something so many times that you fail to actually SEE what is written?! That happened to me this morning as I was reading in the book of Psalms in the Old Testament of the Bible.
When I was a sophomore at university, new to the Christian faith, my friend Cheryl encouraged me to read five Psalms and one Proverb each day. That meant I would read both books once a month, a practice that I maintained for decades. It was the foundation of my “Quiet Time,” a daily time set aside for Bible reading and study, prayer, and sometimes journaling. (Yes, the writing bug bit me a LONG time ago!)
So this morning, as I read Psalm 37, something jumped out that I had never seen before.
Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Psalm 37: 3 (ESV, NASB)
dwell in the land and
BEFRIEND faithfulness.
or
… CULTIVATE faithfulness.
BEFRIEND faithfulness. CULTIVATE faithfulness.
I usually associate BEFRIENDING with people. And so I asked myself how I would go about doing that:
- Take the initiative in getting to know others, which often means going where they are — finding where they hang out, what their interests are.
- Come alongside them to share their burdens, their victories and defeats, their joys and sorrows.
- Listen well to “hear” their hearts.
- Be willing to invest time, effort in others.
I also asked myself what CULTIVATING looks like. I grew up in the countryside. My dad always planted a large vegetable garden so that we would have fresh corn, tomatoes, green beans, and peas all summer long. But to harvest the crops took a LOT of work:
- The soil first needed to be cleaned up: cornstalks and other vines removed.
- Then the soil was “tilled,” broken up after having lain dormant since the previous growing season. This step was crucial to improve aeration of the soil as well as enhancing water infiltration.
- Only then was it possible to begin planting seeds for the new crops.
- Then they needed to be watered, weeded.
- Sunshine helped with their growth, but we had to be ever vigilant of “critters” that may have viewed our potential harvest as THEIR feeding ground!
- After waiting — letting nature take its course — we reaped the bounty of our efforts!
BEFRIEND faithfulness. CULTIVATE faithfulness.
So… how do befriending and cultivating apply to faithfulness???
Faithfulness is a quality grounded in the character of God. His very nature is to be faithful: dependable, loyal, constant, true, unswerving, trustworthy.
If I, then, am encouraged to befriend, to cultivate faithfulness I need to:
- Take the initiative, be intentional in focusing my attention on God and others who are faithful.
- Come alongside and embrace that which is true, faithful. That which reflects and represents what God is like.
- The above happen by hanging out with other like-minded followers of Christ; by choosing what I allow my mind to “feed” on, be it the books I read, the TV shows I watch, the social media I interact with, the conversations I engage in.
- Realize that there is a “cost” involved… and often the “cost” is time.
- If I’m going to harvest a good crop of faithfulness I also need to be ruthless in preparing the soil of my heart, my mind. I need to break up any stubborn clods of soil that are hindering God and His Word from penetrating my heart.
- I also need to get rid of weeds — regularly! Get rid of those things that entangle my thoughts, sap my energy, stunt my growth. And just as weeding the garden isn’t a one-time deal, neither is “weeding” the gunk in my life that needs to be dealt with.
- Faithfulness grows as it’s watered, fed, nurtured. It happens progressively — not all at once. It takes time. The water and food that grow my faith are God and His Word. No-brainer, right?!? And yet sometimes, I want the finished crop without embracing the process.
Befriend faithfulness. Cultivate faithfulness. May we encourage one another in this life-long process, and together have joy in the journey of this thing called “Life!”
Joy in the Journey 